KATH narrowly escapes another missing baby saga

Authorities at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital have debunked a by a mother that her baby, delivered at the facility, has gone missing.

Mother of the baby, Abigail Opoku, accuses hospital staff of underhand dealing in the disappearance of her child.

Officials, however, say the baby died two days after birth but another bereaved mother mistakenly signed a death certification document — creating the impression that Madam Opoku has acknowledged the death of the baby when she has not.

The current incident about a missing baby at the Komfo Anokye Hospital is reminiscent of the infamous Suweiba saga.

That controversy, which later became known as the ‘Suweiba missing baby saga’, happened in 2014 and nearly brought the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital on its knees with the facility’s image severely dented.

Just as the hospital moves out of those hard times, it has been forced to respond to what appears like yet another missing baby scandal.

Hospital officials have, however, resolved the confusion somewhat after getting the two families to properly sign documents on the death of their respective babies which had earlier brought a hullabaloo.

Acting Head of Child Health, Professor Sampson Antwi, says the incident is “very small mishap or mistake.” He has also described it as unfortunate in view of its negative effect on the hospital’s image.

He blames congestion for that mistake. “There’s a price that [KATH] would have to pay. These are some of the ramifications when you have congested [wards]; you have a few staff seeing so to many babies. Sometimes some of these issues do occur,” he said.

Meanwhile, relatives who were led to the mortuary to see the dead baby say they are satisfied with the way authorities have handled the issue.

Madam Akua Afriyie who the grandmother of the deceased baby tells and the spokesperson for the family told Nhyira FM that she reported the incident to a Kumasi-based radio because the nurses on duty failed to respond to her queries.